Israeli troops jailed for desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon | Lebanon
Two Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in a military prison for desecrating a Christian object after one put a cigarette into the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other took a photo of the statue.
The photo of the soldier with a cigarette hanging from his mouth went viral, sparking widespread outrage. This was the latest action by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon that has been accused of being anti-Christian.
The Israeli army said that the soldier who posed would be sentenced to 21 days in prison, and the person who took his photo would be sentenced to 14 days in prison.
Spokesperson Lt. Col. Ariella Mazor wrote about X: “The military views the incident with great seriousness and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as sacred sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities.”
The photo emerged days after images of an Israeli soldier attacking a statue of the crucified Jesus with an ax in the southern Lebanon village of Debel were publicly condemned by foreign leaders, Christian leaders and Israeli politicians.
The army sentenced the soldiers who participated in the breaking of the cross to a military prison.
The sentences imposed in both cases are unusual.
The group Action Against Armed Violence, which monitors the conflict, found that Israel closed or left unresolved 88% of allegations of abuses in Gaza and the West Bank. In a recent case, charges were dropped against soldiers accused of sexually abusing a detainee in Gaza.
Israeli forces took control of southern Lebanon as part of the latest conflict with Hezbollah, which began on March 2 when the Tehran-backed Lebanese militant group launched missiles at the border, two days after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran.
Israel then launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon, and its forces remained in the region despite the ceasefire.
The Israeli military says it only targets buildings used by Hezbollah as outposts. But the extent of the destruction has led Lebanese officials and residents to worry that many displaced people will have nowhere to return if the fragile ceasefire continues.
Christians make up about a third of Lebanon’s population of approximately 5.5 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
